Marketing

Understanding Customer Reviews and Methods to Attain Them

May 13, 2021 09:56 PM EDT | By Ernest Hamilton

Understanding Customer Reviews and Methods to Attain Them

(Photo : Understanding Customer Reviews and Methods to Attain Them)

There are a few things modern companies have come to understand about how they should conduct business. These universalities exist regardless of what products you produce or services you offer.

You probably realize you need to have a business website that launches at the same time you officially open your doors. You know you need to utilize social media platforms for marketing purposes. You might consider setting up a company blog and doing podcast appearances for promotion.

Apart from all that, there's one more thing your modern business needs. Without it, you're not likely to establish yourself within your niche. You need customer feedback. If you can't get positive customer reviews, you're probably going to struggle to attract new clients and make the sales quotas you set.

Let's talk about why customer reviews matter so much. We'll also discuss ways for you to get them that you might not have considered before.

How People Shop for Things Now

When you're running a business, there's so much about which you need to worry. You have to think about retaining employees, expanding into new markets, and courting investors. You might feel like customer reviews don't matter much.

Here's the thing, though. The way people shop for services and products is different in 2021 than it was just twenty years ago.

Let's say someone needs to find a contractor to do some electrical work for them. In the past, they might have looked for electricians in the phone book. They also may have asked their friends and neighbors if they knew anybody reliable.

Now, someone will likely Google "electricians near me." When they do, Google will use geolocation to assess where they're searching. Then, it will come up with a list of possibilities.

At that point, if the person searching doesn't know about any of the first ten companies listed, they'll look at reviews. It makes sense for someone in this position to call the electrician first who has twenty five-stars reviews versus the individual who only has three reviews and two stars.

If you look at the situation this way, it's easy to see why customer feedback matters so much.

Amazon Shopping

It's a similar process if someone shops for something on Amazon. They'll filter by price, but customer reviews will be the next most important thing at which they'll look.

It's just the same: the more positive customer feedback a product or company has, the more likely they will get that sale. If a product or business has poor reviews, or they have hardly any reviews yet, they're going to struggle to sell anything.

How Can Your Business Get Reviews?

As a business, you'll need to develop some ways to get positive feedback fast if you want to compete with others in your niche. This is true whether you have brick-and-mortar stores, you're running an eCommerce business model, or both.

One thing you can do is offer a discount on the customer's next purchase if they leave you a positive review. You might offer them 15% off if they leave you a positive review, but they have to use it within the next seven days.

Doing this accomplishes two things at once. It makes repeat business more likely because the customer might use that discount and buy something else from you, and you'll also get that positive feedback which is so valuable.

What Else Can You Do?

You can also offer exclusive gifts via your website. Maybe you have a paywall on your site with some exclusive content behind it. You might offer your satisfied customer a free three-day trial if they leave you a positive review on the site.

Again, you're getting the feedback you want. You're also opening up the possibility that this person will sign up for your exclusive content permanently if they like what you have to show them.

You might try to get a positive review by offering your customers a free eBook via your website. You can write a short eBook yourself if you have the expertise regarding your niche, or you might hire a freelancer to do it.

If you send a customer one of your products through the mail, you can send a little card with it asking them to review their purchase online. You can incentivize doing so in whatever way you see fit. The more you understand how necessary customer reviews are, the more creative ways you'll probably come up with to solicit them.

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